Ahh! Pretty sure we can officially say we are back! Back in the swing of things. First, we both want to thank all of you sweethearts that left a comment on our last post. We are enjoying reading all of your reasons for loving mixed media! And we so so agree with you on like a million instances! And lets just for a second focus on one instance...lets call it "the mixed media scene". It's so awesome that we can all leave our busy stressful days for a moment and blog hop and look at pretty art...and everyone is talking about their preferred techniques, and products and mediums. We can all learn little bits from each other and it will completely enhance our own artwork the next time we sit down to create. This stuff is such a sweet escape. And we couldn't be more thrilled that we are one of your online destinations for tips, inspiration...whatever. We thank you!
Ok, with that said...howbout me and Aaron get on with the show...what we're here for in the first place. Lets get crafty!
We have been crazy for treat cones for years. We've made them for all holidays...for gifts, and swaps. And they never get old. We had a few cones sitting there in the studio, and we thought one would be the perfect jump off for a happy little blog tutorial.
Here is what you will need:
Bare paper mâché cone
Paint brushes
Cabinet card photocopy
Paint: cream, white, pink, aqua, yellow, brown, tan, black
Pom Pom trim
Chipboard oval or shape
Round dauber
Ribbon (we used vintage seam binding)
Bakery twine in black/white (Maya Road)
Crepe paper streamer
Veneer talk bubble
Patterned paper
Gold foil chocolate label (vintage)
Small printed lettering
All-purpose glue
Scissors
Hole punch
Hot glue gun
Mod Podge
Distress Ink
First, paint your cone cream. We only did one coat being that we're going to give it an antique wash.
So here's the antique wash. Just a little bit of tan and brown paint mixed with water.
Make sure the cream paint on your cone has dried, then just brush the wash onto a small area at a time.
Then use a paper towel and blot off the wash til the desired effect is achieved. Once the wash is dry then apply a topcoat of mod podge to seal it.
When the clear coat dries then use a dauber to apply your polka dots. We love this particular color palette...yellow, aqua, pink and white. But even if you prefer a different set of colors we do suggest that you try to do at least four separate colors...this way your polka dots will definitely come out random. You won't have to worry about the same color dots ending up next to each other.
When your polka dots dry you can then speckle to get this awesome effect. To speckle, just water down some paint, dip in a detail brush, and then hold the brush above the cone and tap the fore end of the brush so the wash speckles the cone. You wouldn't think to use black paint on top of these pretty pastels, but we absolutely love this look.
Once your speckling dries you can then adorn the top of your cone with some trims. We used all-purpose glue to attach this chubby tan pom pom, and then glued on some gold rick rack...because we love metallic gold! Oh, and we also cut one single pom pom and glued that to the bottom tip of the cone.
Then you can use a hole punch to punch holes at opposite sides of the cone. You'll have to squeeze pretty hard. Then just feed through your ribbons and tie a knot to secure them. We used a couple colors of seam binding and a piece of black and white bakers twine...making sure to leave some dangling ends. Then we ruched some crepe paper streamer and adhered it to the inner rim with all-purpose glue.
Ok, now for the star of the show...(first, a tiny little back story. See this guy? He's the owner of a fabulous candy factory...and he invites school kids to come and tour the factory. Upon finishing the tour each kid gets this parting gift...a fantastic cone filled with delicious candy...complete with a pic of the generous proprietor. Yes, this is a much more friendly version of the Willy Wonka tale...nobody gets turned into a giant blueberry!) Ok, that said...back to the crafting. Make a photocopy of a vintage cabinet card...making sure the portrait will fit onto this chipboard oval. Then select a patterned paper to be the background for the portrait. Or if you don't have a vintage cabinet card you can do what we did...we found the cabinet card of this dapper fella on Pinterest and printed him out. (Aaron thinks he resembles Jake Gyllenhaal...yeah I can see it.)
Once you've selected your paper, the way to cut a perfect oval is to lay the paper on top of the chipboard oval and then crease it with your fingertip. Then cut out and adhere it to your chipboard with mod podge. Also, cut out your portrait and then adhere that on top of the patterned paper background.
Then you can apply some Distress Ink to the edges for this fab antiqued effect. And maybe use a detail brush to add some pink rosy cheeks. (He owns a candy factory...of course he has sweet rosy cheeks!)
Next you can add details like this adorable pom pom trim, a talk bubble (You maybe wouldn't think "Treat Yo' Self" to be our proprietor's go-to catch phrase...but he was WAY ahead of his time!)...and we adore this vintage gold "assorted chocolates" candy label! And then attach the whole portrait medallion to your cone using hot glue.
Yeah...that's about it! Fill 'em up with some candies...just because.
And hang it in a place of honor! He looks perfect on our mantel.
We hope you have fun making this. We really really did! Also, if you enjoyed this project...we've got a sneaking suspicion that you'll love our book! Available for pre-order now!
Thanks so so much again for joining us!
xo, Jenny & Aaron